Ola Querida Família! Well, I got the call yesterday from President. The whole transfer we thought I was going to the Algarve or to Almada, but I was shocked when President asked if I would serve in Mafra with Irmã Rasmussen. Mafra is close-ish to Sintra and is an area with a strong branch. I am excited to serve with Irmã Rasmussen because she was in Almada when I was in Seixal so I saw her all the time. It's going to be fun. The area is big and has just a bunch of little villages in it. I'm thinking it's pretty green and I'm hoping it's cooler up there. We will be the only irmãs north of the Rio Tejo, so the next closest irmãs will be in Seixal, about two hours away by train, taxi, and bus. Crazy.
I am really excited to go up there and I think it is the perfect place for me. President said that he felt very strongly that I needed to go up there, so we'll see what work I need to do there. I'm really excited though.
This was a good week for us here in Olivais. We discovered that if you go to the city hall type things here that they will give you free pins and patches with the seal of the city on it. So right now I have a little Olivais pin on. It's rad.
Well on Sunday was our musical fireside. It was awesome!! We got the whole zone together a couple of hours before to run through everything. It actually ended up sounding pretty good. The whole zone sang Faith in Every Footstep and Ide por Todo o Mundo, which is a Portuguese hymn. I saw a lot of growth in the elders through this experience. They all got out of their comfort zone and they ended up loving it. I sang a duet with Elder Rindfleisch called In a Quiet Grove. We blended PERFECTLY and it sounded really nice. I can finally support my voice!! YAY! Elder Davis told me later that because of the fireside he wants to learn how to sing better.
There was a great turnout. The chapel was about 5/7 full, which is AMAZING for this area. We were expecting about 20 people, but we invited the whole stake and some other missionaries brought investigators. I think that it was a really positive experience for everyone. The Spirit was really strong as we bore testimony of the Restoration through song. I ended up singing A LOT. It was really great, though BOILING HOT. Wow. I miss air conditioning. I was wearing a jacket too and I feel for the men in the Church. Wow. I am so glad that I don't have to wear jackets very often. President Terry spoke and it was wonderful. He bore testimony of the Restoration. This was definately the highlight for all of us in the zone for the transfer and I'm glad that we pulled it together.
We went to say goodbye to a member in the other ward, Maria Encarnação, who is the APs recent convert. We ended up having dinner at another member's house, Rita, with the APs. We had a blast! There were a lot of laughs and it was fun to see Elder Davis and Elder Rindfleisch in a different setting. Encarnação and Rita were fussing over the elders the whole time, rustling in and out and pushing food on them. Poor elders.
Random tidbit: the Sporting Stadium is in my area. So thus, I am for Sporting. On the stadium it says " Só eu sei porque sou fã" (I only know because I'm a fan).
Well, we've been getting the apartment ready to be cleared out. Let me tell you, we have cleaned some gross things. Ick. Another icky thing is the mullet. Yes, the mullet is also here in full force in Europe. I don't know whoever thought that was a good idea back in the 80s, but Europe has really taken to it here. (note: for those who don't know what a mullet is, it's a haircut where the top is short and the bottom is long. SLT)
So as Irmã Ives and Elder Davis are "dying" in the mission, we held a "funeral" for them after our district meeting and mourned their loss. I think they are both freaking out a bit about it all. It's been great getting to know them and seeing the other end of the mission through them. (note: "dying" in the mission is the term the missionaries seem to use to mean that their mission is over and they are going home. SLT)
Today we're going to the aquarium and the Almada zone is going too, so I'll get to see some old friends. Last week we had a barbeque and volleyball tournament and I got to see some elders from my MTC group. It was really fun.
Lucy is doing pretty well. She and Tania were really sad that we are leaving. They started crying and, actually, Tania got really mad and started talking about "Senhor Presidente" (President Terry) and how he's blonde in the head and had gray hair and didn't know what he was doing. It will be hard for them for us to leave, but I think it is a great opportunity for the ward to step-up and take care of them.
I have learned a lot here in Olivais. I know now more than before how important the members are. We have such a great responsibility to teach, nurture and share this message of happiness to others. I know that this is the Lord's church on the eartha gain. I know it brings greater happiness because I have seen it. I know it is the best way because I have lived it and I can see it. The gospel changes lives. It changes people and they have such richer fuller lives.
Have a great week. I love you all.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Six Months and Kittens!
Hello dearest family! Thank you all for the updates. It sounds like it was a really good week for everyone, myself included.
Well, today is my six month mark. Can you all believe it? It seems like I've been a missionary forever, but in Portugal for about two months. It's starting to fly by. Irmã Ives and I are trying to figure out what we can do to celebrate.
Well, we'll start with the bad news. President Terry called us Friday before we started our weekly planning to tell us that he will be taking the sisters out of Olivais permanantly. We were really sad to hear this, but we had kind of known the whole transfer that two sister areas would close and Olivais was one that would probably close. President has had a lot of problems with the ward here, but I hope that things will get better and that the ward will be stronger sometime in the future. I won't know where I'm going until next Tuesday, unless the APs let something slip, but I highly doubt it. So I'll let you know next week.
So our kitchen faucet fell off last p-day, so our dono and our dona came up to fix it. It was a show! They were doing a lot of banging and shoving of things and there was a lot of grunting and muttering. They were talking to themselves in the "tu" form. It was hilarious!
Irma Ives' ear has been infected this past week as well, so I have had the lovely pleasure of putting goopy drops in her ear four times a day. The joys of a companionship. You will all be relieved to know that the swelling has gone down and the redness has decreased. Phew! We're hoping it clears up before her family comes next week, or they will have that lovely pleasureof the pussy eardrops.
If you were wondering what the "I can't, I have to wash my hair" excuse of Portugal is, well you can stop wondering because it is "I can't, I have to take my dog to the vet." We had a lesson set up with Pedro with our Bishop and we were excited for the two of them to meet, because it is realy hard to get the Bishop out and Pedro works a lot. So we had it set up and then Pedro texted us to tell us that he had to take his dog to the vet, at night, on a Friday night. I don't know about you, but I think that if the grocery stores close early at night, then the vet probably does too. Wow. Irma Ives and I had a good chuckle over that one.
Oh! We have stray cats that get fed by our dona downstairs that like to wander into our house. We were repulsed by them, but guess what! They had kittens!! This is probably the closest to a pet I can have, they are still TERRIFIED of us, but they are sooooo cute and fluffy and they dont come into our house, so even better! They have no traction and slide around on the tile on the veranda. So cute!
We also live a few doors down from a snail factory. That's right. A snail factory. Sometimes, when the wind is just right and it's hot enough (and believe me, it's usually hot enough) then the apartment kind of has a snaily smell. I think only in Portugal would this ever happen. I think it's charming, though a gross smell.
This week we had a wonderful experience. We were meeting up with Nelo, a member, to go to contacts or knocking. We were waiting for him in the metro station (how we usually travel here) and we got "O Eldered" by this guy standing on the side. By the look of him I thought he was just going to bug us, but he actually turned out to be an inactive member. He, Sandro, was SUPER nice and SUPER normal. He invited us to come back to his house and talk to his dad, who is a less-active member. So he was nice enough to wait around for Nelo and we all went down there. He was really open and talked really well about the Church. So Sandro took us to his dad, Mario, and Mario was really open and nice too and had only left the Church because people weren't super friendly, which I can believe. So we gave him appropriate faca and love and they are both going to come to church on Sunday! I am so excited! The whole family was SUPER nice and respectful and awesome. I really think they will come back to full activity. Mario was a great leader in the Church before they moved and went inactive, so he would be a great help here.
We also went around with the BYU professor, Valerie Hegstrom, yesterday. We were going to teach Lucy the Law of Chastity with her (we thought we would help the elders out before we leave and go over that with her. I think they were very appreciative of that). But Lucy wasn't at her apartment and we couldn't get a hold of her. That never happens with Lucy, she loves us coming over and she always calls if she will be late. So we hope that everything is alright with her. So we ended up taking Valerie tracting with us! Fun! She had served a mission in Peru and was rather enjoying herself. She told us mission stories and talked to me about the Spanish/Portuguese department and other things. She has really been a tender mercy for me here. I have loved working with her and hope to continue our friendship at BYU. They ended up feeding us dinner and I felt like I was in the STates! Though we ate Spanish food.
Things are good here and I am doing well. I will let you know where Im going next week. I love you all and hope that you are staying strong in the gospel and doing all that the Saviour would have you do. I love you all!
Well, today is my six month mark. Can you all believe it? It seems like I've been a missionary forever, but in Portugal for about two months. It's starting to fly by. Irmã Ives and I are trying to figure out what we can do to celebrate.
Well, we'll start with the bad news. President Terry called us Friday before we started our weekly planning to tell us that he will be taking the sisters out of Olivais permanantly. We were really sad to hear this, but we had kind of known the whole transfer that two sister areas would close and Olivais was one that would probably close. President has had a lot of problems with the ward here, but I hope that things will get better and that the ward will be stronger sometime in the future. I won't know where I'm going until next Tuesday, unless the APs let something slip, but I highly doubt it. So I'll let you know next week.
So our kitchen faucet fell off last p-day, so our dono and our dona came up to fix it. It was a show! They were doing a lot of banging and shoving of things and there was a lot of grunting and muttering. They were talking to themselves in the "tu" form. It was hilarious!
Irma Ives' ear has been infected this past week as well, so I have had the lovely pleasure of putting goopy drops in her ear four times a day. The joys of a companionship. You will all be relieved to know that the swelling has gone down and the redness has decreased. Phew! We're hoping it clears up before her family comes next week, or they will have that lovely pleasureof the pussy eardrops.
If you were wondering what the "I can't, I have to wash my hair" excuse of Portugal is, well you can stop wondering because it is "I can't, I have to take my dog to the vet." We had a lesson set up with Pedro with our Bishop and we were excited for the two of them to meet, because it is realy hard to get the Bishop out and Pedro works a lot. So we had it set up and then Pedro texted us to tell us that he had to take his dog to the vet, at night, on a Friday night. I don't know about you, but I think that if the grocery stores close early at night, then the vet probably does too. Wow. Irma Ives and I had a good chuckle over that one.
Oh! We have stray cats that get fed by our dona downstairs that like to wander into our house. We were repulsed by them, but guess what! They had kittens!! This is probably the closest to a pet I can have, they are still TERRIFIED of us, but they are sooooo cute and fluffy and they dont come into our house, so even better! They have no traction and slide around on the tile on the veranda. So cute!
We also live a few doors down from a snail factory. That's right. A snail factory. Sometimes, when the wind is just right and it's hot enough (and believe me, it's usually hot enough) then the apartment kind of has a snaily smell. I think only in Portugal would this ever happen. I think it's charming, though a gross smell.
This week we had a wonderful experience. We were meeting up with Nelo, a member, to go to contacts or knocking. We were waiting for him in the metro station (how we usually travel here) and we got "O Eldered" by this guy standing on the side. By the look of him I thought he was just going to bug us, but he actually turned out to be an inactive member. He, Sandro, was SUPER nice and SUPER normal. He invited us to come back to his house and talk to his dad, who is a less-active member. So he was nice enough to wait around for Nelo and we all went down there. He was really open and talked really well about the Church. So Sandro took us to his dad, Mario, and Mario was really open and nice too and had only left the Church because people weren't super friendly, which I can believe. So we gave him appropriate faca and love and they are both going to come to church on Sunday! I am so excited! The whole family was SUPER nice and respectful and awesome. I really think they will come back to full activity. Mario was a great leader in the Church before they moved and went inactive, so he would be a great help here.
We also went around with the BYU professor, Valerie Hegstrom, yesterday. We were going to teach Lucy the Law of Chastity with her (we thought we would help the elders out before we leave and go over that with her. I think they were very appreciative of that). But Lucy wasn't at her apartment and we couldn't get a hold of her. That never happens with Lucy, she loves us coming over and she always calls if she will be late. So we hope that everything is alright with her. So we ended up taking Valerie tracting with us! Fun! She had served a mission in Peru and was rather enjoying herself. She told us mission stories and talked to me about the Spanish/Portuguese department and other things. She has really been a tender mercy for me here. I have loved working with her and hope to continue our friendship at BYU. They ended up feeding us dinner and I felt like I was in the STates! Though we ate Spanish food.
Things are good here and I am doing well. I will let you know where Im going next week. I love you all and hope that you are staying strong in the gospel and doing all that the Saviour would have you do. I love you all!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The Fanny Pack and Manpris
Hello dear family!! Thank you so much for the emails and the support! I love you all so much and am so grateful for all of you. Did you fast for me on Sunday? I felt such support and strength on Sunday and I wondered if you, or some of you had been fasting for me. Thank you so much if you did because I could feel it. I appreciate the prayers and the love. Really, thank you.
Things were a lot better this past week. I did a division down in Almada, which was fun. Irmã Millet had busted her toe, so one of us stayed in with her and the other went out with Irmã Marinho and worked their area. Wow. She walks REALLY fast. I'm usually the faster walker, but I had to ask her to slow down. Wow. It was fun to go back down south of the river. I could understand everyone SOOOO much better, too. I love that area and I hope I get to go back to the Setúbal Stake to serve again. So it was a positive experience.
The next day were interviews with President Terry. President Terry is incredible. He gave me some great counsel and knew exactly what I needed to hear. I am very grateful to have a mission president like him. It was also the 4th of July and he, as well as the office elders, were wearing red, white and blue. I failed to celebrate the day of our independence. There just wasn't time!
Saturday we had a practice for the upcoming musical fireside the ward is doing. We, the missionaries, are providing musical numbers (since Portugal is lacking a bit in the musical department) and the elders inthe zone are SUPER excited about it. They are doing wonderfully and learning quickly. I am using my limited piano abilities to plunck out their parts so we can practice. Yes, I wish that I had practiced more, but I'm learning now, and it's never too late! We are doing fireside about the Restoration and the pioneers. All of the text is from Preach My Gospel. It will be great to get the ward members to come to the church again during the week. It's going to be great and everyone is very excited.
Sunday we taught Lucy during Gospel Principles with a visiting member, Valerie Hegstrom. Valerie is a professor at BYU and is here with her family doing research. The lesson was AMAZING and she really helped Lucy with some parenting skills and some gospel habits. We had worked really hard tog et the members to come with us, but everything fell through except this lesson and it made up for everything else. It really helped Lucy.
We are talking to Tania about the importance of the family and marriage right now. I happened tohave the only family picture I have and Jen's wedding announcement with me. So I showed them to Tania and talked to her about how happy my family is because we were sealed together for eternity in the temple and that we can all be together forever because of the temple. I talked to her about the importance of marriage and the examples that you are all to me. I think it really helped her. So, thank you all for your examples to me.
I left my planner with all of what happened this week back home, so I'm sorry that I can't remember a lot of specifics. I entitled this email the fanny pack and manpris because they abound here. Wow. Men wear fanny packs like they are going out of style. They also have this little pouch things on a string too. There is no American man that would be caught dead wearing a fanny pack like them or these little purse pouch things. Ick. But it's Europe and you've got to love it. They also wear manpris (man capris) here a LOT. So funny. I forget sometimes what I'm seeing and how different it is here because it just feels like the usual thing for me.
Ana, the Bishop's wife, was telling us about the American professors' family. Their son, Joseph, is about 10 but could pass for about 40. One day in primary he was fasting and he was REALLY tired. So Ana went down to tell the dad that he was really tired and so he could check up on Joe, so she went down there and talked to Brother Pratt. She expected him to jump out of his seat and run up the stairs to see if Joe was okay, but he calmly listened and walked slowly up the stairs. He calmly patted Joe on the arm and asked if he was okay, found out that he was okay, and then proceeded to go back down to Sunday school. So then Ana gave Joe something to eat and was taking care of him. Then she went to go get Sister Hegstrom to check on Joe. Again, she expected the overreaction that is normal here. But Sister Hegstrom just went up calmly and checked up on him. Ana was floored at their response. I had forgotten how different our culture is sometimes until she said that.
Things are going well here. We are doing well and working as hard as we can. I love you all! Thanks again for the love and support! Have a great week!
Things were a lot better this past week. I did a division down in Almada, which was fun. Irmã Millet had busted her toe, so one of us stayed in with her and the other went out with Irmã Marinho and worked their area. Wow. She walks REALLY fast. I'm usually the faster walker, but I had to ask her to slow down. Wow. It was fun to go back down south of the river. I could understand everyone SOOOO much better, too. I love that area and I hope I get to go back to the Setúbal Stake to serve again. So it was a positive experience.
The next day were interviews with President Terry. President Terry is incredible. He gave me some great counsel and knew exactly what I needed to hear. I am very grateful to have a mission president like him. It was also the 4th of July and he, as well as the office elders, were wearing red, white and blue. I failed to celebrate the day of our independence. There just wasn't time!
Saturday we had a practice for the upcoming musical fireside the ward is doing. We, the missionaries, are providing musical numbers (since Portugal is lacking a bit in the musical department) and the elders inthe zone are SUPER excited about it. They are doing wonderfully and learning quickly. I am using my limited piano abilities to plunck out their parts so we can practice. Yes, I wish that I had practiced more, but I'm learning now, and it's never too late! We are doing fireside about the Restoration and the pioneers. All of the text is from Preach My Gospel. It will be great to get the ward members to come to the church again during the week. It's going to be great and everyone is very excited.
Sunday we taught Lucy during Gospel Principles with a visiting member, Valerie Hegstrom. Valerie is a professor at BYU and is here with her family doing research. The lesson was AMAZING and she really helped Lucy with some parenting skills and some gospel habits. We had worked really hard tog et the members to come with us, but everything fell through except this lesson and it made up for everything else. It really helped Lucy.
We are talking to Tania about the importance of the family and marriage right now. I happened tohave the only family picture I have and Jen's wedding announcement with me. So I showed them to Tania and talked to her about how happy my family is because we were sealed together for eternity in the temple and that we can all be together forever because of the temple. I talked to her about the importance of marriage and the examples that you are all to me. I think it really helped her. So, thank you all for your examples to me.
I left my planner with all of what happened this week back home, so I'm sorry that I can't remember a lot of specifics. I entitled this email the fanny pack and manpris because they abound here. Wow. Men wear fanny packs like they are going out of style. They also have this little pouch things on a string too. There is no American man that would be caught dead wearing a fanny pack like them or these little purse pouch things. Ick. But it's Europe and you've got to love it. They also wear manpris (man capris) here a LOT. So funny. I forget sometimes what I'm seeing and how different it is here because it just feels like the usual thing for me.
Ana, the Bishop's wife, was telling us about the American professors' family. Their son, Joseph, is about 10 but could pass for about 40. One day in primary he was fasting and he was REALLY tired. So Ana went down to tell the dad that he was really tired and so he could check up on Joe, so she went down there and talked to Brother Pratt. She expected him to jump out of his seat and run up the stairs to see if Joe was okay, but he calmly listened and walked slowly up the stairs. He calmly patted Joe on the arm and asked if he was okay, found out that he was okay, and then proceeded to go back down to Sunday school. So then Ana gave Joe something to eat and was taking care of him. Then she went to go get Sister Hegstrom to check on Joe. Again, she expected the overreaction that is normal here. But Sister Hegstrom just went up calmly and checked up on him. Ana was floored at their response. I had forgotten how different our culture is sometimes until she said that.
Things are going well here. We are doing well and working as hard as we can. I love you all! Thanks again for the love and support! Have a great week!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Hello dearest family! It was great to hear from you and to get news from home. Thank you so much for all of your support and love and prayers. I really appreciate it.
Well, this has been a week of challenges, but we have learned and grown a lot from them. All of the appointments we set up last week fell through, which was hard, but we were able to have other opportunities that we would not otherwise have had. We got to teach Soraya, whom I might have mentioned last week, but she is great and we hope that she will be able to get Sundays off of work to be able to come to church with us.
Lucy is still doing well and progressing at a good pace. She is keeping her committments and is no longer smoking! She is also speaking in English more with her kids and they are learning so much! I am amazed at how well they understand us when we speak to them. I think they will start responding in English soon.
Tania is doing well and is so amazing. She is on medication that makes her very very tired, but she still gets up every Sunday morning to go to church. I am very impressed by her.
Yesterday was a really good day for us here. We had a lesson with Felizmina and hopefully she will come to church on Sunday. We are trying to get her more excited about the gospel, because she already knows that the Church is true, she just needs to act on it. Later that day we went and got ice cream with a member in the 2nd ward, Encarnação, who needed to talk and her husband won't let us come over. So that was good that she wanted to talk with us. She seems to be doing a lot better. Then we got a member involved in the work!! Antonio went out with us to make contacts and contact some less actives in the ward. He is amazing with contacting and we seemed to run into only Angolans, which was great because Antonio is Angolan. That really helped.
Then I got to teach English class! I taught the body and made Elder Kapp draw a missionary and we labeled him. Then after I taught them all of the words, I let the elders teach "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,0" which ended up being a bit hit with everyone, especially with the kids who were there. I really enjoy teaching the classes and I have a lot of energy to do it, so I think everyone benefits.
We are planning a big musical fireside for the 20 July. We are getting our whole zone involved and inviting the whole stake. It's going to be great and the elders of the zone are all really excited to participate.
Oh, I have the phone from Lagos, which I think John had. Crazy. The family connections continue even in Olivais.
Well, that's about it from here. While things are challenging here all I can do is have the faith that the work will progress here and the ward will help us with the work. I love you all and hope that you have a great week!
Well, this has been a week of challenges, but we have learned and grown a lot from them. All of the appointments we set up last week fell through, which was hard, but we were able to have other opportunities that we would not otherwise have had. We got to teach Soraya, whom I might have mentioned last week, but she is great and we hope that she will be able to get Sundays off of work to be able to come to church with us.
Lucy is still doing well and progressing at a good pace. She is keeping her committments and is no longer smoking! She is also speaking in English more with her kids and they are learning so much! I am amazed at how well they understand us when we speak to them. I think they will start responding in English soon.
Tania is doing well and is so amazing. She is on medication that makes her very very tired, but she still gets up every Sunday morning to go to church. I am very impressed by her.
Yesterday was a really good day for us here. We had a lesson with Felizmina and hopefully she will come to church on Sunday. We are trying to get her more excited about the gospel, because she already knows that the Church is true, she just needs to act on it. Later that day we went and got ice cream with a member in the 2nd ward, Encarnação, who needed to talk and her husband won't let us come over. So that was good that she wanted to talk with us. She seems to be doing a lot better. Then we got a member involved in the work!! Antonio went out with us to make contacts and contact some less actives in the ward. He is amazing with contacting and we seemed to run into only Angolans, which was great because Antonio is Angolan. That really helped.
Then I got to teach English class! I taught the body and made Elder Kapp draw a missionary and we labeled him. Then after I taught them all of the words, I let the elders teach "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,0" which ended up being a bit hit with everyone, especially with the kids who were there. I really enjoy teaching the classes and I have a lot of energy to do it, so I think everyone benefits.
We are planning a big musical fireside for the 20 July. We are getting our whole zone involved and inviting the whole stake. It's going to be great and the elders of the zone are all really excited to participate.
Oh, I have the phone from Lagos, which I think John had. Crazy. The family connections continue even in Olivais.
Well, that's about it from here. While things are challenging here all I can do is have the faith that the work will progress here and the ward will help us with the work. I love you all and hope that you have a great week!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Indian Music and a Hair Salon
Hello dearest family! Thank you for all of the updates and the prayers, and everything. I am doing really well and things are going well here in Olivais. The transfer is really starting to fly by and I can't believe it.
I thought I would start off by telling you about where it is that I am emailing from. I am at a metro station, still inside the station, in a teeny, tiny little internet cafe. Actually, it is half an internet cafe and half a hair salon. There are hair ads all over the little cafe. And to make it better, the people who own the shop are from India, so they play this crazy Indian music in the background. The people who own it always speak in broken English to us. It's really funny. Quite a contrast to the quiet, cute little library where I emailed from in Seixal.
It's been a good week here in Olivais. Lucy is doing really well. I am amazed with her. She is really trying to "put off the natural man" and change her life to live the gospel better. She is doing so well. She is speaking to her children in English and they are understanding her. I think they will soon start responding in English as well. Lucy has a great heart and she loves having us over, which is very refreshing.
Tania is doing well as well, she is a recent convert from Angola. She is so great and, when gross guys are hitting on her at the gym, she tells them that she has her law of chastity. She's so great and is really trying to live the gospel as well.
We found a few new people last week through less-actives. I already mentioned Ana Paula and we haven't been able to teach her again as she has been busy, but we found Felizmina, who is from Moçambique and has already been meeting witht he missionaries in Moçambique for over a year. She knows a lot about the gospel already, but we are trying to get her to church.
Pedro is doing well too, but he didn't go to church. Going to church and reading and praying are SOOO crucial and so basic and so important.
Sunday was an interesting day. We did more contacts in English than in Portuguese. We've started carrying around pamphlets in English so we can hand them out. The best contact was with a German couple who happened to be missionaries for the Jehovah's Witnesses here to teach the Chinese about their religion. We met them in the metro station and we started up a conversation with the man. His wife came over and she was super interested in learning about the Church. She asked some great questions and was so curious. I was able to testify about prophets and modern revelation as well as the Book of Mormon. They were very respectful and nice and had a sincere interest in learning. I hope that we were able to plant some seeds for them.
My apartment is the hub for all of the irmãs who need to come up to Lisbon. In the past week we've had six irmãs here. Wow. It's been fun to get to know some of the irmãs who are serving in areas I've not been.
Last week we had an appointment set up with Teresa, a new investigator and we brought Maria Encarnação, who is a recent convert of the APs in the other ward, with us to teach. She drove us over (whichw as really nice) but then we got really really lost. It ended up being exactly what needed to happen ebcause she really needed to talk to us and have us listen and give her support. God is very much in charge of this work and we helped her come unto Christ through Him guiding us, as He is always doing.
Sunday we also saw a group of old men playing bocci ball. It was soooo cute! I never thought I would actually see people playing bocci ball, which is like curling on grass or concrete. I love the culture here. I forget how different it is to the States, but it feels like second nature to me. We got to see a film that the Church just put out called Finding Happiness yesterday in Portuguese. I think they filmed it according to the regions of the world because all of the filming was done in Europe and the accent of the man was in Portuguese from Portugal. I didn't even realize that it was Europe until halfway through I realized that it wasn't the States, then I started realizing all fothe differences. I love being here in Portugal in this culture. The people here are so wonderful.
I hope that you are all doing so well. I love you so much and think of you often (but not too often, don't worry). Have a great week and continue strong in the gospel! It makes all the difference in the world.
I thought I would start off by telling you about where it is that I am emailing from. I am at a metro station, still inside the station, in a teeny, tiny little internet cafe. Actually, it is half an internet cafe and half a hair salon. There are hair ads all over the little cafe. And to make it better, the people who own the shop are from India, so they play this crazy Indian music in the background. The people who own it always speak in broken English to us. It's really funny. Quite a contrast to the quiet, cute little library where I emailed from in Seixal.
It's been a good week here in Olivais. Lucy is doing really well. I am amazed with her. She is really trying to "put off the natural man" and change her life to live the gospel better. She is doing so well. She is speaking to her children in English and they are understanding her. I think they will soon start responding in English as well. Lucy has a great heart and she loves having us over, which is very refreshing.
Tania is doing well as well, she is a recent convert from Angola. She is so great and, when gross guys are hitting on her at the gym, she tells them that she has her law of chastity. She's so great and is really trying to live the gospel as well.
We found a few new people last week through less-actives. I already mentioned Ana Paula and we haven't been able to teach her again as she has been busy, but we found Felizmina, who is from Moçambique and has already been meeting witht he missionaries in Moçambique for over a year. She knows a lot about the gospel already, but we are trying to get her to church.
Pedro is doing well too, but he didn't go to church. Going to church and reading and praying are SOOO crucial and so basic and so important.
Sunday was an interesting day. We did more contacts in English than in Portuguese. We've started carrying around pamphlets in English so we can hand them out. The best contact was with a German couple who happened to be missionaries for the Jehovah's Witnesses here to teach the Chinese about their religion. We met them in the metro station and we started up a conversation with the man. His wife came over and she was super interested in learning about the Church. She asked some great questions and was so curious. I was able to testify about prophets and modern revelation as well as the Book of Mormon. They were very respectful and nice and had a sincere interest in learning. I hope that we were able to plant some seeds for them.
My apartment is the hub for all of the irmãs who need to come up to Lisbon. In the past week we've had six irmãs here. Wow. It's been fun to get to know some of the irmãs who are serving in areas I've not been.
Last week we had an appointment set up with Teresa, a new investigator and we brought Maria Encarnação, who is a recent convert of the APs in the other ward, with us to teach. She drove us over (whichw as really nice) but then we got really really lost. It ended up being exactly what needed to happen ebcause she really needed to talk to us and have us listen and give her support. God is very much in charge of this work and we helped her come unto Christ through Him guiding us, as He is always doing.
Sunday we also saw a group of old men playing bocci ball. It was soooo cute! I never thought I would actually see people playing bocci ball, which is like curling on grass or concrete. I love the culture here. I forget how different it is to the States, but it feels like second nature to me. We got to see a film that the Church just put out called Finding Happiness yesterday in Portuguese. I think they filmed it according to the regions of the world because all of the filming was done in Europe and the accent of the man was in Portuguese from Portugal. I didn't even realize that it was Europe until halfway through I realized that it wasn't the States, then I started realizing all fothe differences. I love being here in Portugal in this culture. The people here are so wonderful.
I hope that you are all doing so well. I love you so much and think of you often (but not too often, don't worry). Have a great week and continue strong in the gospel! It makes all the difference in the world.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
American in Lisbon
Hello family! I am glad to hear that everything is going well for all of you. I appreciate all of the updates that you all gave me. Before I begin the updates I would like to send a shout out to the whole family about the holidays that we will have: Happy Birthday (late, sorry!) to Dad, Happy Father's day, Jeremy and Dad, Happy Birthday Jen and John, and Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad and Jeremy and Kat. I think I got it all.
Things are going really well here in Olivais. It's really weird to be here and I am still adjusting, but I'm liking it more and more every day. I never imagined that I would be living in the city, I am such a country lover. We take the bus and the metro every day, so I am no longer on the train every day. I am in a ward that goes to a BEAUTIFUL chapel. Wow. We drove by it when we were here before. It is in a big beautiful old house in a great area. It has beautiful wood floors and I love it. The ward struggles a bit here and we are really working on re-activation, as that is what President Terry wants from us.
However, we have also been able to find two new investigators, which has been huge. We only had two other people we were working with, so that doubles our teaching pool! Yay! We are really being blessed. Both of them, Teresa and Ana Paula, are really ready for the gospel. They are so ready to learn and are excited to go to church as well. We just started talking to Teresa on the street and then taught her the next day. Then we went over to Ana Paula's house because her dad is less-active, and she was SUPER interested in the gospel. We had a great first lesson with her yesterday. I hope things continue to progress and grow here.
We are also working with a woman named Lucy. She is American and was deported to Portugal from the US because she was born here in Portugal. She's had a rough life and is still trying to figure things out. She was raised in the Church, but was excommunicated, so we are re-teaching her everything. She has such a hunger to learn and to do all she can to be better. She has three kids, two twins, Gabriel and Gabriella, and a baby, Anjolina. The twins speak Portuguese and not much English and Lucy only speaks English and broken Portuguese. That's a problem. Because of the background I've had in languages and in studying language learning I could see that. Lucy had been talking to her kids in broken Portuguese, so they really couldn't communicate all that well. So we talked to her about speaking only in English with them, because it is vital that they learn English natively so they can communicate with their mom. How grateful I am that I was able to put my education to use. Thank you BYU. But she is great and I love being able to teach in English. I can express myself well in Portuguese, but it's so different speaking in English and understanding every meaning that Lucy says.
My companion is Irmã Ives. She is GREAT! She is from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Can you believe that, Mom? She knows where Holt is as well. She is a convert to the Church and joined when she was 18. The rest of her family is Catholic as well. It's been wonderful to serve with her and we get along really well. I am loving serving with her, but I'm sad that we will only be together for one transfer, because she is finishing her mission at the end of this transfer. But I am loving her and loving being here in Olivais, though I miss Seixal a lot. It was a wonderful area and I hope to be able to go back to see the people there.
Nothing too funny happened this week, so I will recount two funny stories from the week before that got erased.
A week ago SAturday we went down to an old abandoned chapel of ours to fix up. It needed a LOT of love. The grounds were all over grown and I didn't even go in the building. We just focused on cleaning up the grounds to begin with. It was really hot, but really really fun. We were low on tools, but high in spirits. Elder Hawkins immediately weilded a saw and took to the overgrown palm. He started hacking off branches to make it look better. So, seeing a need to dice up the HUGE fronds, I weilded my own tool: the hatchet. That's right family, I was using a hatchet. I also took pictures of this, don't worry. So I started chopping up the fronds and I felt very empowered and I remembered all the good times at Eagle Scout projects. I loved helping out at those. We cleared out all of the brush and started ripping up all of the dead grass. It looked quite a bit better when we had to leave. Before we left, however, we grabbed lemons off of the lemon tree. The elders used the pitch fork we had (I know, we had the most RANDOM tools with us) and plucked a bunch of lemons off. We all then decided to eat some lemons straight up to see how sour they were. Woah dang! They were sour! I got some great pictures of everyone's faces. It was a great service opportunity and good zone bonding as well.
The previous Thursday we had interviews with President. Before interviews we wait in another room with other missionaries in the zone and with Irmã Terry. She is so nice and always brings a box of bolachas, or little biscuit cookie things. I decided that I wanted a picture with Irmã Terry to put on the phone, so I was heading over to take the photo with her. The chair was about a foot away from her, so I was planning on moving it after I had sat down. So I began my descent into the chair. She, in the meantime, had also seen the huge gap between our chairs and decided to move the chair before I sat down so we could be close together. Irmã Terry is a very nice woman. So, as you could imagine, this did not turn out according to plan. Fortunately, I was holding the box of bolachas without a lid and the elders of Seixal were sitting there with us, and the elders of Almada had just barely walked in. So of course, I only landed on half of the chair. I went flying. The bolachas went flying. I did remember that I was supposed to have quiet dignity as a missionary, so I used my right arm to keep my skirt from flying through the air as well. In the end, all I ended up with was a giant bruise on my forearm, and laughter that was really loud.
Things are going really well here. I promise I'll have some stories from here soon, but as for now, that's about all I got. Life is good. I love this work and I know that it is only through the gospel that we have the greatest happiness. Have a great week! I love you all!
Things are going really well here in Olivais. It's really weird to be here and I am still adjusting, but I'm liking it more and more every day. I never imagined that I would be living in the city, I am such a country lover. We take the bus and the metro every day, so I am no longer on the train every day. I am in a ward that goes to a BEAUTIFUL chapel. Wow. We drove by it when we were here before. It is in a big beautiful old house in a great area. It has beautiful wood floors and I love it. The ward struggles a bit here and we are really working on re-activation, as that is what President Terry wants from us.
However, we have also been able to find two new investigators, which has been huge. We only had two other people we were working with, so that doubles our teaching pool! Yay! We are really being blessed. Both of them, Teresa and Ana Paula, are really ready for the gospel. They are so ready to learn and are excited to go to church as well. We just started talking to Teresa on the street and then taught her the next day. Then we went over to Ana Paula's house because her dad is less-active, and she was SUPER interested in the gospel. We had a great first lesson with her yesterday. I hope things continue to progress and grow here.
We are also working with a woman named Lucy. She is American and was deported to Portugal from the US because she was born here in Portugal. She's had a rough life and is still trying to figure things out. She was raised in the Church, but was excommunicated, so we are re-teaching her everything. She has such a hunger to learn and to do all she can to be better. She has three kids, two twins, Gabriel and Gabriella, and a baby, Anjolina. The twins speak Portuguese and not much English and Lucy only speaks English and broken Portuguese. That's a problem. Because of the background I've had in languages and in studying language learning I could see that. Lucy had been talking to her kids in broken Portuguese, so they really couldn't communicate all that well. So we talked to her about speaking only in English with them, because it is vital that they learn English natively so they can communicate with their mom. How grateful I am that I was able to put my education to use. Thank you BYU. But she is great and I love being able to teach in English. I can express myself well in Portuguese, but it's so different speaking in English and understanding every meaning that Lucy says.
My companion is Irmã Ives. She is GREAT! She is from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Can you believe that, Mom? She knows where Holt is as well. She is a convert to the Church and joined when she was 18. The rest of her family is Catholic as well. It's been wonderful to serve with her and we get along really well. I am loving serving with her, but I'm sad that we will only be together for one transfer, because she is finishing her mission at the end of this transfer. But I am loving her and loving being here in Olivais, though I miss Seixal a lot. It was a wonderful area and I hope to be able to go back to see the people there.
Nothing too funny happened this week, so I will recount two funny stories from the week before that got erased.
A week ago SAturday we went down to an old abandoned chapel of ours to fix up. It needed a LOT of love. The grounds were all over grown and I didn't even go in the building. We just focused on cleaning up the grounds to begin with. It was really hot, but really really fun. We were low on tools, but high in spirits. Elder Hawkins immediately weilded a saw and took to the overgrown palm. He started hacking off branches to make it look better. So, seeing a need to dice up the HUGE fronds, I weilded my own tool: the hatchet. That's right family, I was using a hatchet. I also took pictures of this, don't worry. So I started chopping up the fronds and I felt very empowered and I remembered all the good times at Eagle Scout projects. I loved helping out at those. We cleared out all of the brush and started ripping up all of the dead grass. It looked quite a bit better when we had to leave. Before we left, however, we grabbed lemons off of the lemon tree. The elders used the pitch fork we had (I know, we had the most RANDOM tools with us) and plucked a bunch of lemons off. We all then decided to eat some lemons straight up to see how sour they were. Woah dang! They were sour! I got some great pictures of everyone's faces. It was a great service opportunity and good zone bonding as well.
The previous Thursday we had interviews with President. Before interviews we wait in another room with other missionaries in the zone and with Irmã Terry. She is so nice and always brings a box of bolachas, or little biscuit cookie things. I decided that I wanted a picture with Irmã Terry to put on the phone, so I was heading over to take the photo with her. The chair was about a foot away from her, so I was planning on moving it after I had sat down. So I began my descent into the chair. She, in the meantime, had also seen the huge gap between our chairs and decided to move the chair before I sat down so we could be close together. Irmã Terry is a very nice woman. So, as you could imagine, this did not turn out according to plan. Fortunately, I was holding the box of bolachas without a lid and the elders of Seixal were sitting there with us, and the elders of Almada had just barely walked in. So of course, I only landed on half of the chair. I went flying. The bolachas went flying. I did remember that I was supposed to have quiet dignity as a missionary, so I used my right arm to keep my skirt from flying through the air as well. In the end, all I ended up with was a giant bruise on my forearm, and laughter that was really loud.
Things are going really well here. I promise I'll have some stories from here soon, but as for now, that's about all I got. Life is good. I love this work and I know that it is only through the gospel that we have the greatest happiness. Have a great week! I love you all!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Alma 29:10
Hello family! It was soooo great to hear from you all today! This morning the alarm went off and I thought, okay, I can get up, so I slowly rolled over and thought of the day ahead, and then I remembered, it's P-day! I get to hear from my family! Then I suddenly felt energized for the day. So thank you everyone for writing.
This week has really been soooo amazing. Really. The Lord is pouring out blessings here in Seixal. I titled this email from a verse in Alma 29:10 because that is how I feel. I find joy when I see my brethren (sistren really) coming unto Christ and repenting. I have been keeping you all updated on Sara's progress. We've taught her three times since last I wrote and she went to church (the whole block AND she brought her cousing) and she went to mutual. We wanted to talk to her about baptism on Friday, but the time wasn't right. So we waited. Yesterday we were talking with her and she asked us about her being baptized. She's already talked to Diego about performing the baptism. We talked about the baptismal interview questions, because she still has some preparing to do before baptism, with regard to her testimony. And she knows that, so she is going to take this time to study and to gain a stronger testimony. She knows the Church is true, but she wants to have a stronger testimony of it first. So we set her baptism for 19 July. I really hope that I can go to it.
The most amazing thing is that I have seen such a change come over her in the past couple of months. She has really matured and I can see the light of Christ entering her life. It is an incredible transformation that I can't really describe, but it is truly miraculous.
Alzira is really progressing as well. She's reading the Book of Mormon every day and going to church every week. She's quitting smoking and is praying with real intent to know if the Church is true. It is incredible. This all really came about because of the help of the members.
This past week we also had a Family Night at Clovis' house. Wow, Dad, Clovis LOVES you. Seriously. He has nothing but good things to say about you. We had Marcelo and Leo at the Family Night and it was so great. WE watched the Restoration video and bore testimonies. The Spirit was very strong and I know that they felt it as well. Clovis and Kenia are so great. Such great members.
This past week we've seen A LOT of our elders here. They are sitting right by me as I type. We are a very unified district, which is great. We've eaten at Irmã Rocha's house twice. Irma Rocha is a very honest woman. She is the wife of Elder Rocha, who is an area seventy. She told me that I laugh to loud to be the wife of a seventy. I guess there are worse things in the world than a healthy laugh. Her bathroom has music in it when you turn the lights on. Wow. That is fantastic. Irma Rocha has rules in her house to with regards to meals. The elders have to do all of the serving and clearing of plates, etc. And we also have bibs to wear. I picked the one with a turtle on it.
This week has also been a week of missing the bus. Seriously. We have missed the bus by a minute in places where the bus only comes every 1/2 hour, so we've done a lot of waiting as well.
Oh, Mom, you will be sad to hear this. I am getting a Seixal baby. Let me explain what a Seixal baby is. It is the result of the members feeding us all the time and getting fat. I avoided it for two months, but the inevitable has come to pass. Fortunately, this is my first area and I have another year to lose my Seixal baby. But for now, I'm enjoying the good food and the good company.
Things are going really well for us here in Seixal. We are being so blessed by the Lord and all that He has done for us already. It is so rewarding to see the change that comes over people as a result of living the gospel. It truly changes lives. I hope you all continue to do well. I love you so much!
This week has really been soooo amazing. Really. The Lord is pouring out blessings here in Seixal. I titled this email from a verse in Alma 29:10 because that is how I feel. I find joy when I see my brethren (sistren really) coming unto Christ and repenting. I have been keeping you all updated on Sara's progress. We've taught her three times since last I wrote and she went to church (the whole block AND she brought her cousing) and she went to mutual. We wanted to talk to her about baptism on Friday, but the time wasn't right. So we waited. Yesterday we were talking with her and she asked us about her being baptized. She's already talked to Diego about performing the baptism. We talked about the baptismal interview questions, because she still has some preparing to do before baptism, with regard to her testimony. And she knows that, so she is going to take this time to study and to gain a stronger testimony. She knows the Church is true, but she wants to have a stronger testimony of it first. So we set her baptism for 19 July. I really hope that I can go to it.
The most amazing thing is that I have seen such a change come over her in the past couple of months. She has really matured and I can see the light of Christ entering her life. It is an incredible transformation that I can't really describe, but it is truly miraculous.
Alzira is really progressing as well. She's reading the Book of Mormon every day and going to church every week. She's quitting smoking and is praying with real intent to know if the Church is true. It is incredible. This all really came about because of the help of the members.
This past week we also had a Family Night at Clovis' house. Wow, Dad, Clovis LOVES you. Seriously. He has nothing but good things to say about you. We had Marcelo and Leo at the Family Night and it was so great. WE watched the Restoration video and bore testimonies. The Spirit was very strong and I know that they felt it as well. Clovis and Kenia are so great. Such great members.
This past week we've seen A LOT of our elders here. They are sitting right by me as I type. We are a very unified district, which is great. We've eaten at Irmã Rocha's house twice. Irma Rocha is a very honest woman. She is the wife of Elder Rocha, who is an area seventy. She told me that I laugh to loud to be the wife of a seventy. I guess there are worse things in the world than a healthy laugh. Her bathroom has music in it when you turn the lights on. Wow. That is fantastic. Irma Rocha has rules in her house to with regards to meals. The elders have to do all of the serving and clearing of plates, etc. And we also have bibs to wear. I picked the one with a turtle on it.
This week has also been a week of missing the bus. Seriously. We have missed the bus by a minute in places where the bus only comes every 1/2 hour, so we've done a lot of waiting as well.
Oh, Mom, you will be sad to hear this. I am getting a Seixal baby. Let me explain what a Seixal baby is. It is the result of the members feeding us all the time and getting fat. I avoided it for two months, but the inevitable has come to pass. Fortunately, this is my first area and I have another year to lose my Seixal baby. But for now, I'm enjoying the good food and the good company.
Things are going really well for us here in Seixal. We are being so blessed by the Lord and all that He has done for us already. It is so rewarding to see the change that comes over people as a result of living the gospel. It truly changes lives. I hope you all continue to do well. I love you so much!
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